MICHAEL VLISMAS, Pretoria | Saturday 11.50am.
THE Blue Bulls scraped through 36-32 (halftime 24-22) in a nailbiting Currie Cup clash with the South Western Districts Eagles at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
The defending champions, robbed of their Springboks, had to once again rely on the solid boot of Casper Steyn to bail them out after Eagles flyhalf Pieter O’Neill had threatened to sink their Currie Cup hopes.
In the second minute of injury time, O’Neill converted a vital penalty to give the visitors a one point lead.
But when the Eagles’ Harold Karele was caught offsides on the restart, Steyn stepped up for arguably the most vital kick of the many he has already converted for the Bulls this season.
The touch judges acknowledged his success along with the home fans, taking the score to 33-32 for the Bulls before he added another at the death to dramatically turn around a match the Pretoria side looked like losing.
“Someone will have to cut off Casper Steyn’s leg to stop him,” a rueful O’Neill admitted afterwards. — MWP